Liberia Health System Funding: Combat Outbreaks Fast

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in coordination with the Government of Liberia (GOL) and local and international partners, actively supports timely detection and response activities to control disease outbreaks at their source and neutralize other public health threats, including breaking the chain of transmission of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the 2014-2016 outbreak. Building on capacities developed during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak response efforts, CDC has continued to support the GOL and partners in maintaining an active alert system to ensure rapid detection and response to infectious diseases with epidemic potential. In order to maintain vigilance against potential outbreaks of disease and other public health threats, CDC and partners on the ground must work to ensure that specimens collected for testing are rapidly transported to a designated laboratory for advanced diagnostics. Timely confirmation of infectious diseases allows for rapid isolation of patients, reducing the number of contacts and reducing the risk of widespread transmission.

Timely disease detection also decreases the number of resources required for contact tracing, quarantining, and monitoring. When infectious diseases strike, getting fast and accurate laboratory diagnoses is critical to stopping an outbreak from becoming a widespread epidemic. Before the West Africa Ebola epidemic, Liberia had no system in place for getting clinical samples from remote areas to diagnostic labs. Delays in getting an accurate laboratory diagnosis can lead to more opportunities for outbreaks to spread.

Efforts since 2015 have demonstrated that strengthening laboratory diagnostics through the development and implementation of a robust, flexible specimen transport system for effective, efficient detection of priority diseases is a crucial aspect in strengthening and maintaining health system capacities to detect and respond to public health threats. The current diagnostic transport network has played an essential function in detecting and controlling disease threats beyond the 2014-2016 EVD outbreak, supporting the detection of multiple disease outbreaks, including but not limited to, outbreaks of meningococcal disease, Lassa fever, shigellosis, measles, and others. A specimen transport model must have the capacity integrate fully into Liberia’s public health system across all counties, with GOL ownership in a supportive policy environment. An effective specimen transport network requires strong collaboration and communication throughout Liberia’s 15 counties in close cooperation with county and district health facilities, county diagnostic officers, county and district surveillance officers, national and regional laboratories, the Ministry of Health, and other GOL entities.

NOFO activities align with Global Health Security Agenda focus areas to prevent, detect, and respond to potential threats, supporting real-time bio-surveillance and timely diagnostics for effective public health action. Capabilities further strengthened through these activities will specifically increase Liberia’s ability to detect cases of EVD and other infectious diseases. Combined with additional USG and partner investments in surveillance systems, data management, public health workforce development, other laboratory strengthening efforts, and emergency management and response, the public health infrastructure of Liberia will be more capable to prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks.